Recasts, adds details throughout, updates prices

By Sybille de La Hamaide

PARIS, July 16 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures extended their rise to a two-year high Thursday, pulling other grain markets in their wake, as tensions between Russia and Ukraine showed no sign of cooling, raising concerns for exports from the world's largest wheat suppliers.

The most active wheat contract Wv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.7% at $6.87-1/2 a bushel as of 1157 GMT. Corn Cv1 rose 0.4% lower to $4.71-1/2 a bushel and soybean Sv1 gained 0.25% to $12.04-3/4 a bushel.

Wheat futures had already surged 5% in the last session amid fears of disruptions to Black Sea exports at a time when wheat supplies are seen tightening in Europe and North America.

Ukraine and Russia launched missile and drone attacks on Thursday on vessels in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the route for a quarter of Russia's grain exports, stepping up hostilities in a zone vital for grain exports.

Ukraine has been hitting vessels in the Sea of Azov since early July. Ukraine's drone forces commander Robert Brovdi said on Wednesday that the country had also begun targeting Russian ships in the Black Sea, as Kyiv presses on with its campaign to disrupt logistics for Moscow's military and isolate Russia-annexed Crimea.

Shipping in the Sea of Azov, remained restricted on Thursday after continued Ukrainian drone attacks, sources told Reuters.

Meanwhile, Russia has intensified strikes on Ukraine's deepwater Black Sea ports in the Greater Odesa area, which handle much of the country's grain and other cargo and are vital to its wartime economy.

Ukraine has lost about a third of its capacity to export grain via its vital Black Sea ports due to intensifying Russian missile and drone attacks, the country's main farmers' union said on Wednesday.

Stressful hot weather persisted in the U.S. Midwest crop belt on Wednesday, but temperatures were expected to moderate slightly next week, with increased rains.